Reflections
by Random Guise
Summary: Takes place a few months after the movie Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. Ezylryb helps Soren see things in a new light. I don't own these characters, but visited a wild bird rehab facility recently.


**A/N: Based on the movie _Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole_ and takes place a few months after the movie concludes. _  
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Reflections  


It was a hot summer night on the island of Ga'Hoole, and most of the great tree's population rested listlessly, conserving their energy for the time when the heat wave would break, as it invariably would the next day. The night's lack of any breeze would change in the morning, and blow in much needed relief.

Soren sat as the others; while his body rested his mind was on flying, and on his brother Kludd. The stillness was broken as Ezylryb glided in and landed beside him, flaring his wings and using one brief flap to great economy as his flight was terminated on the branch.

"Hot enough for ya?" Ezylryb said as he settled in. He either winked or blinked, but Soren still couldn't tell the difference.

"Too hot" Soren answered, looking around. "And from the looks of it I'm not the only one that feels that way."

"Hotter than flying through a fire?" Ezylryb countered.

"No! You're right, I probably won't feel that kind of heat again. I sure hope not; I singed a couple of tailfeathers flying through there." Soren spoke of the great battle with the Pure Ones, in which he had to fly through a firestorm to disable a trap. It was an experience he'd rather not repeat. "If only I could fly up and up, into the starry night where it must be cooler."

"You mean like San'usta did?" Ezylryb reflected. "Remember, he never came back from his flight."

"My father told us of San'usta, but he never said why he tried to fly higher than anyone" Soren said. "I just thought he wanted to see what was up there."

"That was part of the reason, but it was also on a hot night like this. San'usta was always the impatient one, and finally on one particularly hot night he decided to do something about it. ' _My friends, I fly off to seek a cooler place to spend the night. I think the moon must be a cooler place and I shall try there_.' After that he flew off, never to be seen again. Well, some say you can still see him if you look in the right place" Ezylryb chuckled.

"Oh sure, all we have to do is look for him on the moon when it is full. And get moon-blinked at the same time!" Soren's little sister Eglantine had been moon-blinked, and almost didn't recover from the zombie-like state it induced. He didn't like looking at the moon even when it was far from full; on nights like tonight while it was full he would barely even give it a look out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad to be moon-blinked. It took me days to get over it."

"You were moon-blinked too?!" Soren asked, astonished. "Was it when you were the great Lyze of Kiel? How did you get out of it?"

"I wasn't great then, or even good; I was young and stupid. I was already beginning to establish myself as a flyer and fighter, and my pride took over one evening. I bragged to my friends that I could outstare the moon; not surprisingly, I lost the contest. I might have remained in a trance for the rest of my days, but hours later the call to arms was sounded for a battle. That sound somehow managed to find it's way inside me and I snapped out of it, although I was a bit hazy in the brain for awhile."

"But it taught you a lesson not to underestimate some things" Soren said, trying to show that he had learned from the story. Out of the corner of his eye he saw shafts of moonlight coming through the treetop canopy and was glad for the cover.

"It sure did, but you know what? I think I'm going to go look at the moon. Catch me if you can!" He shoved Soren backwards off the branch as he launched himself into the air. Soren had learned to always find a perch where it was safe to drop downward in front and back, so he laughed as he tumbled backwards before righting himself and coming back to the branch. It was empty.

"Ezylryb? Where did you say...oh no...don't do it!" Frantically Soren looked around and spotted some movement off to one side and flew after it. As he flew he slowly gained on Ezylryb. "Wait! Stop! Don't do it!" Out of the corner of his eye the moon still watched from overhead.

Ezylryb disappeared into a tall tree some distance away and Soren followed. When he saw his mentor perched on a branch under the canopy he followed and landed beside him, slightly out of breath from his haste. "You can't!" he said, barely getting the words out.

"Catch your breath, Soren. There's no danger. Now tell me, how do you get moon-blinked?"

Soren spent a moment gathering his composure again. "By staring at the full moon. You know that, why ask me?"

"Let me ask you this; would it happen if you looked at a drawing of the moon?"

Soren paused; "No, that would be safe. It's not _really_ the moon."

"Right. Well, what about a reflection of the moon off of a helmet then? It's not really the moon either" Ezylryb asked.

Soren was much longer answering this time. "I don't think so. It's still not the moon" he said, with a great deal less assurance.

"Right again. Well, prepare yourself because I've led you to the best place to see the moon in all its glory."

Soren looked up after his peripheral vision confirmed to him the moon was behind the leaves. "It's just like back where we were."

"No it isn't" Ezylryb said smugly. "Look down."

"Down? That's not the direc..." Soren started before completely losing his ability to speak for a moment. Below them and much further away a small lake lay in a hollow surrounded by hills. But almost in the middle was a perfect reflection of the full moon.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ezylryb explained, still awed by the sight he had seen several times before.

"I've never seen anything like it...it's so...big...the whole thing takes up almost the whole lake!" Soren managed to get out, as he struggled to take it all in. "I almost feel smaller because of it. The reflection is perfect!"

"That's a bonus from the heat. Usually you have to wait until there is no wind, but the fish still come up to feed at night and make little ripples. Tonight is so hot they're staying deep and leaving the surface for us. Now tell me, do you see San'usta anywhere on the moon?" Ezylryb asked.

"Of course not, he was an adult before your parents were even eggs. Wait." As Soren studied the surface of the moon, his imagination started to take the light and dark areas and form shapes. This one looked like a tree, that one was a knife, and...

"I see him! Up in the right corner, you can see a bird with wings outstretched as it flies. I never noticed it before." Soren turned to Ezylryb, happy with his discovery and still excited with being able to see the full moon safely.

"It's because you weren't looking for it. Of course it's not him really, but it does remind us to dream big and not rule out any possibility. He's up there all the time in the same spot, but you can only see him lit up less than half the time. I wanted to show you tonight because it was the perfect time; I know you've been afraid of the full moon."

"I'm not afraid of the moon, just maybe careful not to look at it."

"No; you stay in the trees whenever it's a full moon unless absolutely necessary, and then you race from cover to cover if you have to be out. There's nothing to be afraid of, Soren. You don't have to look at the full moon; instead, think of how it lights our way in all its nocturnal radiance. Let it guide you, not blind you. The greatest fliers are those that excel in all lighting, from new to full moon nights. Notice how our friend's reflection is leaving us."

Soren looked down again and saw that the reflection had moved and about half of it had disappeared onto the hills. He was a little saddened the brief opportunity had passed and let out a sigh.

"Now that you know the secret, you can come back when conditions are right. Some of the branches work best at different times of the year; I'll let you know when I come out again. What do you say we head back home?"

Both birds jumped off the branch and flew towards home. Soren saw the moon again out of the corner of his eye, but now instead of dread he felt like the spirit of San'usta watched over them as they winged their way back.

The End

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 **A/N: I had never heard of this movie until I came across a list of movies suggested for their animation. After watching it I can appreciate how much work went into the artistic design of the film, and it truly was beautiful. It doesn't hurt that I like owls too...**


End file.
